TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Online gambling has become increasingly pervasive in Indonesia, with the Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Center (PPATK) noting a staggering turnover of gambling money in cyberspace throughout 2023 reaching Rp327 trillion, which is nearly 10 percent of this year’s State Budget (APBN) of Rp3,325.1 trillion.

President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo presided over a meeting to discuss the emergency of online gambling at the Presidential Palace, Jakarta, on Thursday, April 18. The government is determined to eradicate online gambling and plans to establish a special task force within the next week.

“Gambling is illegal under the law, so measures to strengthen [the eradication process] must be carried out effectively,” Minister of Communication and Information Technology (Kominfo) Budi Arie Setiadi told Antara, after the internal meeting.

According to him, the task force aims to tackle online gambling more comprehensively by sharpening coordination among the ministries and institutions. The Kominfo Ministry will focus on withdrawing and shutting down illegal sites, while law enforcement officials will handle enforcement efforts.

Budi said that the situation is highly alarming, especially since the government received many reports of poor people engaging in illegal practices. “This year alone, as I reported earlier, four people committed suicide due to online gambling. So this country must be serious [about tackling it]. Dramatic steps will be taken within the next week. If necessary, we will arrest the operator,” he said.

Mahendra Siregar, chairman of the Commissioners’ Board of the Financial Services Authority (OJK) revealed that the agency had blocked about 5,000 bank accounts used for online gambling activities from the end of 2023 to March 2024.

He believed that deleting sites and blocking accounts alone were insufficient to completely eradicate the practice of online gambling, which is a transnational issue.

YUDONO YANUAR

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